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Her acknowledgment shocks me.
She shakes her head. “I thought you were here living your best billionaire life, but honestly, everything about it is kind of pathetic.”
“Gee. Thanks.” I steal a scoopful of her mac and cheese in retribution, earning a little hiss from Dahlia.
She pulls the container farther out of my reach. “I’m not trying to be rude.”
“Yet it seems to be your default setting around me.”
My comment earns me a scowl.
“Your life is…” Her voice drifts off.
“What? Sad? Pathetic? Miserable? Take your pick.”
“Not what I expected,” she whispers.
My throat tightens. “What did you expect?”
“For you to be happy at least.”
“Were you happy before you came here?” My tone comes off more accusatory than neutral.
Her shoulders stiffen. “For a time, yeah.”
My napkin crumples in my tight fist.
Her brows furrow. “Julian…”
I rise in a rush and toss my crushed napkin and fork in the trash.
“Where are you going?” she asks.
“My house.”
She doesn’t need to stand to make me feel small as she asks, “Do you notice how you never call it your home?”
Fuck.Leave it to Dahlia to call me out on such a thing.
Truth is, I don’t have a home, and I have no one to blame but myself. I spend way too much time living in my head, fearing I’ll never be good enough without ever trying to prove to someone that I can be.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Julian
“Hey, boss. Do you have a minute?” Ryder’s muffled voice seeps through the cracks of my office door.
“Come in,” I call out before locking my computer.
Ryder shuts the door to my office before leaning against it with his arms crossed. “Your family friend has a special request I wanted to run by you.”
Lovely. Ever since last week’s dinner disaster, I have done my best to avoid Dahlia, which is probably why she enlisted Ryder to do her dirty work.
I lean back in my chair. “What does Dahlia want?”
“She’d like to match the original moldings and woodwork that came with the house, but I’m having trouble finding a local carpenter with that kind of skill level who can work with our short time frame.”
“Can we find someone from Detroit to help?”
